Comb drive and leaf spring camera actuator

ABSTRACT

An actuator package includes a base frame member and an image sensor. The actuator package further includes a plurality of comb drive actuators affixed to the base frame member by a plurality of respective electrically conductive leaf spring flexures. The respective electrically conductive leaf spring flexures provide an electrical current conductive path between the image sensor and conductors mounted on the base frame member, and the plurality of comb drive actuators is arranged to control the motion of the image sensor in multiple degrees of freedom relative to the fixed structure. Each of the plurality of comb drive actuators includes at least two independent comb drive array portions. At least one of the comb drive array portions generates force tending to move the image sensor out of a plane of the base frame member.

BACKGROUND

1. Technical Field

This disclosure relates generally to control of the motion of cameracomponents.

2. Description of the Related Art

For high-end computing devices, it is common to incorporate miniaturecameras. One typical feature augmentation for such miniature cameras isautofocus (AF). The incumbent actuator technology for such cameras isthe voice coil motor (VCM). Many other technologies have been proposed,with varying strengths and weaknesses and differing degrees ofcommercial success. The voice coil motor technology has the keyadvantage of being simple, and therefore being straightforward todesign.

While there are several disadvantages of voice coil motor, such as highpower, and low relative force, their use persists in spite of theassociated costs.

Demands on improvements to performance of such miniature cameras areconstant, as are demands for continued miniaturization, given the addedfeatures and devices added to such mobile devices.

In particular, demands to decrease the dimensions of camera componentsand demands for high image quality continue to create an ongoing desirefor camera components that exhibit superior performance as measured invarious ways, while consuming less space and energy.

SUMMARY OF EMBODIMENTS

Some embodiments provide an actuator package that includes a base framemember and an image sensor. The actuator package further includes aplurality of comb drive actuators affixed to the base frame member by aplurality of respective electrically conductive leaf spring flexures.The respective electrically conductive leaf spring flexures provide anelectrical current conductive path between the image sensor andconductors mounted on the base frame member, and the plurality of combdrive actuators is arranged to control the motion of the image sensor inmultiple degrees of freedom relative to the fixed structure. Each of theplurality of comb drive actuators includes at least two independent combdrive array portions. At least one of the comb drive array portionsgenerates force tending to move the image sensor out of a plane of thebase frame member.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of a portable multifunction devicewith a camera in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 2 depicts a portable multifunction device having a camera inaccordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 3 illustrates a MEMS actuator for use with an image sensoraccording to some embodiments.

FIG. 4 depicts a plan view of a MEMS actuator for use with an imagesensor according to some embodiments.

FIG. 5 illustrates a detail view of combs in a MEMS actuator for usewith an image sensor according to some embodiments.

FIG. 6 depicts a MEMS actuator for use with an image sensor according tosome embodiments.

FIG. 7 illustrates deflection of a MEMS actuator for use with an imagesensor according to some embodiments.

FIG. 8 depicts a MEMS actuator for use with an image sensor according tosome embodiments with combs powered to mid-position and an image sensorsquared and in mid-position.

FIG. 9 illustrates a comb of a MEMS actuator for use with an imagesensor according to some embodiments powered to mid-position.

FIG. 10 depicts a MEMS actuator for use with an image sensor accordingto some embodiments with OIS movement.

FIG. 11 illustrates a MEMS actuator for use with an image sensoraccording to some embodiments with AF movement to lift an image sensor.

FIG. 12 depicts a MEMS actuator leaf-spring flexure for use with animage sensor according to some embodiments.

FIG. 13 illustrates an example computer system configured to implementaspects of the system and method for camera control, according to someembodiments.

This specification includes references to “one embodiment” or “anembodiment.” The appearances of the phrases “in one embodiment” or “inan embodiment” do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment.Particular features, structures, or characteristics may be combined inany suitable manner consistent with this disclosure.

“Comprising.” This term is open-ended. As used in the appended claims,this term does not foreclose additional structure or steps. Consider aclaim that recites: “An apparatus comprising one or more processor units. . . . ” Such a claim does not foreclose the apparatus from includingadditional components (e.g., a network interface unit, graphicscircuitry, etc.).

“Configured To.” Various units, circuits, or other components may bedescribed or claimed as “configured to” perform a task or tasks. In suchcontexts, “configured to” is used to connote structure by indicatingthat the units/circuits/components include structure (e.g., circuitry)that performs those task or tasks during operation. As such, theunit/circuit/component can be said to be configured to perform the taskeven when the specified unit/circuit/component is not currentlyoperational (e.g., is not on). The units/circuits/components used withthe “configured to” language include hardware—for example, circuits,memory storing program instructions executable to implement theoperation, etc. Reciting that a unit/circuit/component is “configuredto” perform one or more tasks is expressly intended not to invoke 35U.S.C. §112, sixth paragraph, for that unit/circuit/component.Additionally, “configured to” can include generic structure (e.g.,generic circuitry) that is manipulated by software and/or firmware(e.g., an FPGA or a general-purpose processor executing software) tooperate in manner that is capable of performing the task(s) at issue.“Configure to” may also include adapting a manufacturing process (e.g.,a semiconductor fabrication facility) to fabricate devices (e.g.,integrated circuits) that are adapted to implement or perform one ormore tasks.

“First,” “Second,” etc. As used herein, these terms are used as labelsfor nouns that they precede, and do not imply any type of ordering(e.g., spatial, temporal, logical, etc.). For example, a buffer circuitmay be described herein as performing write operations for “first” and“second” values. The terms “first” and “second” do not necessarily implythat the first value must be written before the second value.

“Based On.” As used herein, this term is used to describe one or morefactors that affect a determination. This term does not forecloseadditional factors that may affect a determination. That is, adetermination may be solely based on those factors or based, at least inpart, on those factors. Consider the phrase “determine A based on B.”While in this case, B is a factor that affects the determination of A,such a phrase does not foreclose the determination of A from also beingbased on C. In other instances, A may be determined based solely on B.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Introduction

Some embodiments provide an actuator package for camera control thatincludes a base frame member and an image sensor. The actuator packagefurther includes a plurality of comb drive actuators affixed to the baseframe member by a plurality of respective electrically conductive leafspring flexures. The respective electrically conductive leaf springflexures provide an electrical current conductive path between the imagesensor and conductors mounted on the base frame member, and theplurality of comb drive actuators is arranged to control the motion ofthe image sensor in multiple degrees of freedom relative to the fixedstructure. Each of the plurality of comb drive actuators includes atleast two independent comb drive array portions. At least one of thecomb drive array portions generates force tending to move the imagesensor out of a plane of the base frame member.

Some embodiments are configured to move the image sensor instead of thelens to achieve the required actuation functions in the camera. Movingthe image sensor in linear directions orthogonal to the optical axisrepresents two degrees of freedom of motion (which can be labeled the Xand Y directions). These linear motions compensate for angular tiltingchanges in the camera position from the user handshake (typically called‘pitch’ and ‘yaw’ tilts).

Although in practice a little less important, it is also valuable torotate the image sensor about the optical axis to compensate for ‘roll’tilts from the user's handshake. Compensating this degree of freedombecomes more valuable for more wide-angle lenses, as the corners of theimage away from the optical axis are more prone to roll blur. Inaddition, as may be appreciated, the autofocus function benefits fromrelative movement between one of more lens elements and the image sensoralong the optical axis. For some embodiments, one of skill in the artwill appreciate in light of having read the present disclosure that thisis achieved by moving the image sensor along the optical axis.

Finally, one of the main sources of image degradation in miniaturecameras is relative tilt between the image sensor and the lens, suchthat not all of the image sensor can be positioned at the image plane ofthe lens at the same time. This leads to blurring of the images at thesides and corners. This is typically combated during camera manufactureto minimize all the tolerances in the stack that determines side lenstilt. However typical lens tilt specifications are around 3 to 6 arcminutes, which corresponds to tolerances of 7 to 15 um across thesurface of the image sensor. This tolerance being split between thelens, actuator and image sensor substrate tolerances, and then the finalintegration processes, where the lens assembly is bonded to the imagesensor assembly. Some embodiments address this issue by incorporatingthese two extra tilt degrees of freedom to the actuator package.

This means that some embodiments include an actuator package that canmove the image sensor relative to the lens in all six degrees offreedom: along three orthogonal linear axes, and three rotations aboutthe same axes. The MEMS (Microelectromechanical systems) technology ofthe comb actuator components of some embodiments enables a compactactuator package to deliver such movement flexibility. Moreover, theMEMS technology, being a Silicon device is relatively easy to integratewith the Silicon image sensor. In some embodiments, it is possible tointegrate the actuator onto the same piece of Silicon as the imagesensor. Less ambitiously, the Silicon MEMS device may make use of waferbonding processes to join to the image sensor wafter and route theelectrical connections through the moving MEMS structure to thesurrounding fixed Silicon frame of the MEMS device, that may then beintegrated in one of several ways to a substrate to mechanically mountand electrically route the electrical connections to other devices andin the camera, and to the wider system outside the camera.

Some embodiments include an actuator assembly for mounting a digitalimage sensor. A base frame member is articulated to a digital imagesensor using a plurality of comb drive actuators affixed to the baseframe member by a plurality of respective electrically conductive leafspring flexures. The respective electrically conductive leaf springflexures provide an electrical current conductive path between the imagesensor and conductors mounted on the base frame member, and theplurality of comb drive actuators is arranged to control the motion ofthe image sensor in multiple degrees of freedom relative to the fixedstructure. In some embodiments, each of the plurality of comb driveactuators includes at least two independent comb drive array portions.At least one of the comb drive array portions generates force tending tomove the image sensor out of a plane of the base frame member, andanother of the comb drive array portions generates force tending to movethe image sensor in one linear direction within the plane of the baseframe member.

In some embodiments, each of the four functionally similar comb driveactuator structures includes a substantially rigid portion withinterdigitated comb drive fingers from the respective at least one ofthe comb drive arrays and the respective another of the comb drivearrays. In some embodiments, for each of the plurality of comb driveactuators, a moving portion of the comb drive actuator that deliversin-plane force is suspended on a moving portion of the comb driveactuator that delivers out-of plane forces. Some embodiments includeplurality of substantially rigid portions of the actuator assemblysuspended using resilient flexures to the base frame member, each ofwhich suspends a respective another of the comb drive array portions todeliver out-of-plane forces.

In some embodiments, the plurality of substantially rigid portions aredeflected out of the plane of the plane of the base frame member duringthe fabrication process, and the plurality of substantially rigidportions are bonded in deflected positions so as to deflect therespective another of the comb drive array portions to deliver theout-of-plane forces. In some embodiments, the plurality of comb driveactuators affixed to the base frame member further comprises fourfunctionally similar comb drive actuator structures. In someembodiments, each of the comb drive actuators is linked to the imagesensor by a linkage arrangement that includes a substantially rigidlinking bar, and a further beam angled to the rigid bar that iscompliant to one linear direction of in-plane movement and stiff to theorthogonal direction of in-plane movement. The orthogonal direction ofin-plane movement is a same direction as the forces provided by thein-plane actuator to which it is attached.

Some embodiments include digital camera, or a digital camera module in amultifunction device. In some embodiments, the digital camera moduleincludes a base frame member, an image sensor, and a plurality of combdrive actuators affixed to the base frame member by a plurality ofrespective electrically conductive leaf spring flexures. Each of theplurality of comb drive actuators includes at least two independent combdrive array portions. At least one of the comb drive array portionsgenerates force tending to move the image sensor out of a plane of thebase frame member, and another of the comb drive array portionsgenerates force tending to move the image sensor in one linear directionwithin the plane of the base frame member.

In some embodiments, the respective electrically conductive leaf springflexures provide an electrical current conductive path between the imagesensor and conductors mounted on the base frame member, and theplurality of comb drive actuators is arranged to control the motion ofthe image sensor in multiple degrees of freedom relative to the fixedstructure. In some embodiments, each of the four functionally similarcomb drive actuator structures includes a substantially rigid portionwith interdigitated comb drive fingers from the respective at least oneof the comb drive arrays and the respective another of the comb drivearrays.

In some embodiments, for each of the plurality of comb drive actuators,a moving portion of the comb drive actuator that delivers in-plane forceis suspended on a moving portion of the comb drive actuator thatdelivers out-of plane forces. Some embodiments further include aplurality of substantially rigid portions of the actuator assemblysuspended using resilient flexures to the base frame member, each ofwhich suspends a respective another of the comb drive array portions todeliver out-of-plane forces. The plurality of substantially rigidportions are deflected out of the plane of the plane of the base framemember during the fabrication process, and the plurality ofsubstantially rigid portions are bonded in deflected positions so as todeflect the respective another of the comb drive array portions todeliver the out-of-plane forces.

In some embodiments, the plurality of comb drive actuators affixed tothe base frame member further comprises four functionally similar combdrive actuator structures. In some embodiments, each of the comb driveactuators is linked to the image sensor by a linkage arrangement thatincludes a substantially rigid linking bar, and a further beam angled tothe rigid bar that is compliant to one linear direction of in-planemovement and stiff to the orthogonal direction of in-plane movement. Theorthogonal direction of in-plane movement is a same direction as theforces provided by the in-plane actuator to which it is attached.

Some embodiments provide an actuator package including a base framemember, an image sensor, and a plurality of comb drive actuators affixedto the base frame member by a plurality of respective electricallyconductive leaf spring flexures. The plurality of comb drive actuatorsincludes four comb drive actuator structures. Each of the four combdrive actuator structures includes a substantially rigid portion withinterdigitated comb drive fingers from the respective at least one ofthe comb drive arrays and the respective another of the comb drivearrays. For each of the plurality of comb drive actuator structures, amoving portion of the comb drive actuator that delivers in-plane forceis suspended on a moving portion of the comb drive actuator thatdelivers out-of plane forces.

In some embodiments, each of the plurality of comb drive actuatorsincludes at least two independent comb drive array portions. At leastone of the comb drive array portions generates force tending to move theimage sensor out of a plane of the base frame member, and another of thecomb drive array portions generates force tending to move the imagesensor in one linear direction within the plane of the base framemember.

Some embodiments further include a plurality of substantially rigidportions of the actuator assembly suspended using resilient flexures tothe base frame member, each of which suspends a respective another ofthe comb drive array portions to deliver out-of-plane forces. In someembodiments, the plurality of substantially rigid portions are deflectedout of the plane of the plane of the base frame member during thefabrication process.

In some embodiments, the plurality of comb drive actuators affixed tothe base frame member further includes four functionally similar combdrive actuator structures. In some embodiments, each of the comb driveactuators is linked to the image sensor by a linkage arrangement thatincludes a substantially rigid linking bar, and a further beam angled tothe rigid bar that is compliant to one linear direction of in-planemovement and stiff to the orthogonal direction of in-plane movement. Theorthogonal direction of in-plane movement is a same direction as theforces provided by the in-plane actuator to which it is attached. Insome embodiments, the plurality of substantially rigid portions arebonded in deflected positions so as to deflect the respective another ofthe comb drive array portions to deliver the out-of-plane forces.

In some embodiments, the actuator technology is the electrostatic combdrive. This works by using an array of interlocking fingers, where onehalf of the array is on a first substantially rigid body, and the otherhalf is on a second substantially rigid body. The two bodies aresuspended relative to each other on a series of resilient flexibleleaf-springs that guide the relative motion between the two bodies. Thearrangement of leaf-springs is chosen such that it is relativelycompliant in desired directions of the comb, and relatively very stiffin undesired directions. For example, in some embodiments it is anecessary condition of successful operation that the leaf springsuspension prevents the interlocking comb fingers on the two bodies fromever touching each other. The comb operated by applying a voltage acrossthe fingers on the two bodies to set up an electrostatic attraction.

In some embodiments, electric field and capacitance between comb fingersare maximized by a smaller gap between the comb fingers and a greaterthe surface area that the fingers overlap. In some embodiments, the comboperates restricting the comb fingers from touching under the action ofthe electrostatic attraction, but allowing them to increase the amountof interlock, effectively increasing the surface area of array ofparallel plate capacitors that are formed by the fingers.

A relative force between the two bodies is generated by the comb arrayin the direction that increases the overlap between the fingers.Considering one finger on one of the bodies in the middle of the array,either side of this finger there are two overlapping fingers from theother body. As an electrical voltage is applied between the fingerarrays in the two bodies, the first finger is attracted by nominally thesame force to the fingers on either side. Hence nominally there is nonet force on the first finger in a direction that would cause thefingers to touch. However, the equilibrium in these touching directionsis unstable. Since the electrostatic attraction is inverselyproportional to the square of the gap between the fingers, a smallperturbation towards one fingers would see the forces no longer inequilibrium, with the net force in the direction to move the finger inthe same direction as the perturbation. For this reason, the resilientleaf-spring arrangement must be relatively very stiff in directions thatwould lead to the fingers touching.

As a guide, in some embodiments the resilient leaf-spring arrangement isroughly 70,000 times stiffer in directions that would lead to thefingers touching as compared to the direction of desired relativemotion. In some embodiments, minimizing the gap between fingers, andminimizing the width of each finger allows more fingers with a higherelectric field and hence a higher force for a given applied voltage. Insome embodiments, force generated from the comb drive is proportional tothe number of fingers, proportional to the square of the applied voltageand inversely proportional to the gap between fingers.

Some embodiments also integrate multiple comb drives designed togenerate forces in different directions to deliver a device capable ofmoving the image sensor in six degrees of freedom. Some embodiments aredescribed with the aid of the accompanying drawings. Some embodimentsexploit the interlocking fingers of the comb drive. Note that, in someembodiments, the fingers on the fixed side of the comb are not co-planarwith the fingers on the moving side of the comb, because the generallyplanar structure of the actuator package is oriented in the camera withits plane orthogonal to the optical axis of the lens.

This means that for the autofocus function, the lens element, andtherefore the comb drive may move out of the plane of the actuatorpackage. It should be understood by one of ordinary skill in the artafter having read the present description of embodiments that the combdrive is operated in a way that generates forces to increase the amountof interlock between the comb fingers without generating electrostaticforces that would tend to reduce the amount of interlock and force thefingers apart.

In some embodiments, it is thus advantageous for the equilibriumposition of the autofocus comb to be with the two halves of the comboffset from each other along the optical axis, and then during operationby the application of a voltage across the fingers on the two halves ofthe comb, such that forces will be generated to pull the two halves ofthe comb back into alignment.

In some embodiments, a deflected portion is deflected out of the planeof the actuator package and bonded in this position to the underlyingsupport structure and to neighboring parts of the actuator package. Thisdeflected portion is linked to the moving body by a leaf spring flexure.

The moving body is suspended on the fixed body by means of two pairs ofresilient leaf spring flexures. These resilient leaf spring flexuressubstantially limit the relative motion between the moving body and thefixed body to rotations about an axis. The act of deflecting thedeflected portion rotates the moving body out of the plane of theactuator package. This deflected state then becomes the equilibriumposition of the moving body. During operation, the application of avoltage across the two halves of the comb drive will generate forcesthat tend to pull the moving body back into the plane of the actuatorpackage, rotating about the blue dashed axis.

In the illustrated embodiments, it is assumed that the actuator packageand the image sensor are fabricated together from a single monolithicpiece of silicon using various lithographic IC and MEMS processingtechniques including etching, plating, deposition and implantation.

However, one of skill in the art will realize in light of having readthe present disclosure that the included embodiments are not so limited.For manufacturing cost and yield issues, and constraints on thedifferent required processing techniques, it may be more appropriate tofabricate the MEMS actuator separately from the image sensor and thenuse some kind of wafer bonding technique to join them together.

Multifunction Device

Reference will now be made in detail to embodiments, examples of whichare illustrated in the accompanying drawings. In the following detaileddescription, numerous specific details are set forth in order to providea thorough understanding of the present disclosure. However, it will beapparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that some embodiments maybe practiced without these specific details. In other instances,well-known methods, procedures, components, circuits, and networks havenot been described in detail so as not to unnecessarily obscure aspectsof the embodiments.

It will also be understood that, although the terms first, second, etc.may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements shouldnot be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguishone element from another. For example, a first contact could be termed asecond contact, and, similarly, a second contact could be termed a firstcontact, without departing from the intended scope. The first contactand the second contact are both contacts, but they are not the samecontact.

The terminology used in the description herein is for the purpose ofdescribing particular embodiments only and is not intended to belimiting. As used in the description and the appended claims, thesingular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the pluralforms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It willalso be understood that the term “and/or” as used herein refers to andencompasses any and all possible combinations of one or more of theassociated listed items. It will be further understood that the terms“includes,” “including,” “comprises,” and/or “comprising,” when used inthis specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers,steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude thepresence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps,operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.

As used herein, the term “if” may be construed to mean “when” or “upon”or “in response to determining” or “in response to detecting,” dependingon the context. Similarly, the phrase “if it is determined” or “if [astated condition or event] is detected” may be construed to mean “upondetermining” or “in response to determining” or “upon detecting [thestated condition or event]” or “in response to detecting [the statedcondition or event],” depending on the context.

Embodiments of electronic devices, user interfaces for such devices, andassociated processes for using such devices are described. In someembodiments, the device is a portable communications device, such as amobile telephone, that also contains other functions, such as PDA and/ormusic player functions. Exemplary embodiments of portable multifunctiondevices include, without limitation, the iPhone®, iPod Touch®, and iPad®devices from Apple Inc. of Cupertino, Calif. Other portable electronicdevices, such as laptops or tablet computers with touch-sensitivesurfaces (e.g., touch screen displays and/or touch pads), may also beused. It should also be understood that, in some embodiments, the deviceis not a portable communications device, but is a desktop computer witha touch-sensitive surface (e.g., a touch screen display and/or a touchpad). In some embodiments, the device is a gaming computer withorientation sensors (e.g., orientation sensors in a gaming controller).In other embodiments, the device is not a portable communicationsdevice, but is a camera.

In the discussion that follows, an electronic device that includes adisplay and a touch-sensitive surface is described. It should beunderstood, however, that the electronic device may include one or moreother physical user-interface devices, such as a physical keyboard, amouse and/or a joystick.

The device typically supports a variety of applications, such as one ormore of the following: a drawing application, a presentationapplication, a word processing application, a website creationapplication, a disk authoring application, a spreadsheet application, agaming application, a telephone application, a video conferencingapplication, an e-mail application, an instant messaging application, aworkout support application, a photo management application, a digitalcamera application, a digital video camera application, a web browsingapplication, a digital music player application, and/or a digital videoplayer application.

The various applications that may be executed on the device may use atleast one common physical user-interface device, such as thetouch-sensitive surface. One or more functions of the touch-sensitivesurface as well as corresponding information displayed on the device maybe adjusted and/or varied from one application to the next and/or withina respective application. In this way, a common physical architecture(such as the touch-sensitive surface) of the device may support thevariety of applications with user interfaces that are intuitive andtransparent to the user.

Attention is now directed toward embodiments of portable devices withcameras. FIG. 1A is a block diagram illustrating portable multifunctiondevice 100 with camera 164 in accordance with some embodiments. Camera164 is sometimes called an “optical sensor” for convenience, and mayalso be known as or called an optical sensor system. Device 100 mayinclude memory 102 (which may include one or more computer readablestorage mediums), memory controller 122, one or more processing units(CPU's) 120, peripherals interface 118, RF circuitry 108, audiocircuitry 110, speaker 111, touch-sensitive display system 112,microphone 113, input/output (I/O) subsystem 106, other input or controldevices 116, and external port 124. Device 100 may include one or moreoptical sensors 164. These components may communicate over one or morecommunication buses or signal lines 103.

It should be appreciated that device 100 is only one example of aportable multifunction device, and that device 100 may have more orfewer components than shown, may combine two or more components, or mayhave a different configuration or arrangement of the components. Thevarious components shown in FIG. 1A may be implemented in hardware,software, or a combination of hardware and software, including one ormore signal processing and/or application specific integrated circuits.

Memory 102 may include high-speed random access memory and may alsoinclude non-volatile memory, such as one or more magnetic disk storagedevices, flash memory devices, or other non-volatile solid-state memorydevices. Access to memory 102 by other components of device 100, such asCPU 120 and the peripherals interface 118, may be controlled by memorycontroller 122.

Peripherals interface 118 can be used to couple input and outputperipherals of the device to CPU 120 and memory 102. The one or moreprocessors 120 run or execute various software programs and/or sets ofinstructions stored in memory 102 to perform various functions fordevice 100 and to process data.

In some embodiments, peripherals interface 118, CPU 120, and memorycontroller 122 may be implemented on a single chip, such as chip 104. Insome other embodiments, they may be implemented on separate chips.

RF (radio frequency) circuitry 108 receives and sends RF signals, alsocalled electromagnetic signals. RF circuitry 108 converts electricalsignals to/from electromagnetic signals and communicates withcommunications networks and other communications devices via theelectromagnetic signals. RF circuitry 108 may include well-knowncircuitry for performing these functions, including but not limited toan antenna system, an RF transceiver, one or more amplifiers, a tuner,one or more oscillators, a digital signal processor, a CODEC chipset, asubscriber identity module (SIM) card, memory, and so forth. RFcircuitry 108 may communicate with networks, such as the Internet, alsoreferred to as the World Wide Web (WWW), an intranet and/or a wirelessnetwork, such as a cellular telephone network, a wireless local areanetwork (LAN) and/or a metropolitan area network (MAN), and otherdevices by wireless communication. The wireless communication may useany of a variety of communications standards, protocols andtechnologies, including but not limited to Global System for MobileCommunications (GSM), Enhanced Data GSM Environment (EDGE), high-speeddownlink packet access (HSDPA), high-speed uplink packet access (HSUPA),wideband code division multiple access (W-CDMA), code division multipleaccess (CDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), Bluetooth, WirelessFidelity (Wi-Fi) (e.g., IEEE 802.11a, IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g and/orIEEE 802.11n), voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), Wi-MAX, a protocolfor e-mail (e.g., Internet message access protocol (IMAP) and/or postoffice protocol (POP)), instant messaging (e.g., extensible messagingand presence protocol (XMPP), Session Initiation Protocol for InstantMessaging and Presence Leveraging Extensions (SIMPLE), Instant Messagingand Presence Service (IMPS)), and/or Short Message Service (SMS), or anyother suitable communication protocol, including communication protocolsnot yet developed as of the filing date of this document.

Audio circuitry 110, speaker 111, and microphone 113 provide an audiointerface between a user and device 100. Audio circuitry 110 receivesaudio data from peripherals interface 118, converts the audio data to anelectrical signal, and transmits the electrical signal to speaker 111.Speaker 111 converts the electrical signal to human-audible sound waves.Audio circuitry 110 also receives electrical signals converted bymicrophone 113 from sound waves. Audio circuitry 110 converts theelectrical signal to audio data and transmits the audio data toperipherals interface 118 for processing. Audio data may be retrievedfrom and/or transmitted to memory 102 and/or RF circuitry 108 byperipherals interface 118. In some embodiments, audio circuitry 110 alsoincludes a headset jack (e.g., 212, FIG. 2). The headset jack providesan interface between audio circuitry 110 and removable audioinput/output peripherals, such as output-only headphones or a headsetwith both output (e.g., a headphone for one or both ears) and input(e.g., a microphone).

I/O subsystem 106 couples input/output peripherals on device 100, suchas touch screen 112 and other input control devices 116, to peripheralsinterface 118. I/O subsystem 106 may include display controller 156 andone or more input controllers 160 for other input or control devices.The one or more input controllers 160 receive/send electrical signalsfrom/to other input or control devices 116. The other input controldevices 116 may include physical buttons (e.g., push buttons, rockerbuttons, etc.), dials, slider switches, joysticks, click wheels, and soforth. In some alternate embodiments, input controller(s) 160 may becoupled to any (or none) of the following: a keyboard, infrared port,USB port, and a pointer device such as a mouse. The one or more buttons(e.g., 208, FIG. 2) may include an up/down button for volume control ofspeaker 111 and/or microphone 113. The one or more buttons may include apush button (e.g., 206, FIG. 2).

Touch-sensitive display 112 provides an input interface and an outputinterface between the device and a user. Display controller 156 receivesand/or sends electrical signals from/to touch screen 112. Touch screen112 displays visual output to the user. The visual output may includegraphics, text, icons, video, and any combination thereof (collectivelytermed “graphics”). In some embodiments, some or all of the visualoutput may correspond to user-interface objects.

Touch screen 112 has a touch-sensitive surface, sensor or set of sensorsthat accepts input from the user based on haptic and/or tactile contact.Touch screen 112 and display controller 156 (along with any associatedmodules and/or sets of instructions in memory 102) detect contact (andany movement or breaking of the contact) on touch screen 112 andconverts the detected contact into interaction with user-interfaceobjects (e.g., one or more soft keys, icons, web pages or images) thatare displayed on touch screen 112. In an exemplary embodiment, a pointof contact between touch screen 112 and the user corresponds to a fingerof the user.

Touch screen 112 may use LCD (liquid crystal display) technology, LPD(light emitting polymer display) technology, or LED (light emittingdiode) technology, although other display technologies may be used inother embodiments. Touch screen 112 and display controller 156 maydetect contact and any movement or breaking thereof using any of avariety of touch sensing technologies now known or later developed,including but not limited to capacitive, resistive, infrared, andsurface acoustic wave technologies, as well as other proximity sensorarrays or other elements for determining one or more points of contactwith touch screen 112. In an exemplary embodiment, projected mutualcapacitance sensing technology is used, such as that found in theiPhone®, iPod Touch®, and iPad® from Apple Inc. of Cupertino, Calif.

Touch screen 112 may have a video resolution in excess of 100 dpi. Insome embodiments, the touch screen has a video resolution ofapproximately 160 dpi. The user may make contact with touch screen 112using any suitable object or appendage, such as a stylus, a finger, andso forth. In some embodiments, the user interface is designed to workprimarily with finger-based contacts and gestures, which can be lessprecise than stylus-based input due to the larger area of contact of afinger on the touch screen. In some embodiments, the device translatesthe rough finger-based input into a precise pointer/cursor position orcommand for performing the actions desired by the user.

In some embodiments, in addition to the touch screen, device 100 mayinclude a touchpad (not shown) for activating or deactivating particularfunctions. In some embodiments, the touchpad is a touch-sensitive areaof the device that, unlike the touch screen, does not display visualoutput. The touchpad may be a touch-sensitive surface that is separatefrom touch screen 112 or an extension of the touch-sensitive surfaceformed by the touch screen.

Device 100 also includes power system 162 for powering the variouscomponents. Power system 162 may include a power management system, oneor more power sources (e.g., battery, alternating current (AC)), arecharging system, a power failure detection circuit, a power converteror inverter, a power status indicator (e.g., a light-emitting diode(LED)) and any other components associated with the generation,management and distribution of power in portable devices.

Device 100 may also include one or more optical sensors or cameras 164.FIG. 1A shows an optical sensor coupled to optical sensor controller 158in I/O subsystem 106. Optical sensor 164 may include charge-coupleddevice (CCD) or complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS)phototransistors. Optical sensor 164 receives light from theenvironment, projected through one or more lens, and converts the lightto data representing an image. In conjunction with imaging module 143(also called a camera module), optical sensor 164 may capture stillimages or video. In some embodiments, an optical sensor is located onthe back of device 100, opposite touch screen display 112 on the frontof the device, so that the touch screen display may be used as aviewfinder for still and/or video image acquisition. In someembodiments, another optical sensor is located on the front of thedevice so that the user's image may be obtained for videoconferencingwhile the user views the other video conference participants on thetouch screen display.

Device 100 may also include one or more proximity sensors 166. FIG. 1Ashows proximity sensor 166 coupled to peripherals interface 118.Alternately, proximity sensor 166 may be coupled to input controller 160in I/O subsystem 106. In some embodiments, the proximity sensor turnsoff and disables touch screen 112 when the multifunction device isplaced near the user's ear (e.g., when the user is making a phone call).

Device 100 includes one or more orientation sensors 168. In someembodiments, the one or more orientation sensors include one or moreaccelerometers (e.g., one or more linear accelerometers and/or one ormore rotational accelerometers). In some embodiments, the one or moreorientation sensors include one or more gyroscopes. In some embodiments,the one or more orientation sensors include one or more magnetometers.In some embodiments, the one or more orientation sensors include one ormore of global positioning system (GPS), Global Navigation SatelliteSystem (GLONASS), and/or other global navigation system receivers. TheGPS, GLONASS, and/or other global navigation system receivers may beused for obtaining information concerning the location and orientation(e.g., portrait or landscape) of device 100. In some embodiments, theone or more orientation sensors include any combination oforientation/rotation sensors. FIG. 1A shows the one or more orientationsensors 168 coupled to peripherals interface 118. Alternately, the oneor more orientation sensors 168 may be coupled to an input controller160 in I/O subsystem 106. In some embodiments, information is displayedon the touch screen display in a portrait view or a landscape view basedon an analysis of data received from the one or more orientationsensors.

In some embodiments, the software components stored in memory 102include operating system 126, communication module (or set ofinstructions) 128, contact/motion module (or set of instructions) 130,graphics module (or set of instructions) 132, text input module (or setof instructions) 134, Global Positioning System (GPS) module (or set ofinstructions) 135, arbiter module 157 and applications (or sets ofinstructions) 136. Furthermore, in some embodiments memory 102 storesdevice/global internal state 157, as shown in FIGS. 1A and 3.Device/global internal state 157 includes one or more of: activeapplication state, indicating which applications, if any, are currentlyactive; display state, indicating what applications, views or otherinformation occupy various regions of touch screen display 112; sensorstate, including information obtained from the device's various sensorsand input control devices 116; and location information concerning thedevice's location and/or attitude.

Operating system 126 (e.g., Darwin, RTXC, LINUX, UNIX, OS X, WINDOWS, oran embedded operating system such as VxWorks) includes various softwarecomponents and/or drivers for controlling and managing general systemtasks (e.g., memory management, storage device control, powermanagement, etc.) and facilitates communication between various hardwareand software components.

Communication module 128 facilitates communication with other devicesover one or more external ports 124 and also includes various softwarecomponents for handling data received by RF circuitry 108 and/orexternal port 124. External port 124 (e.g., Universal Serial Bus (USB),FIREWIRE, etc.) is adapted for coupling directly to other devices orindirectly over a network (e.g., the Internet, wireless LAN, etc.). Insome embodiments, the external port is a multi-pin (e.g., 30-pin)connector that is the same as, or similar to and/or compatible with the30-pin connector used on iPod (trademark of Apple Inc.) devices.

Contact/motion module 130 may detect contact with touch screen 112 (inconjunction with display controller 156) and other touch sensitivedevices (e.g., a touchpad or physical click wheel). Contact/motionmodule 130 includes various software components for performing variousoperations related to detection of contact, such as determining ifcontact has occurred (e.g., detecting a finger-down event), determiningif there is movement of the contact and tracking the movement across thetouch-sensitive surface (e.g., detecting one or more finger-draggingevents), and determining if the contact has ceased (e.g., detecting afinger-up event or a break in contact). Contact/motion module 130receives contact data from the touch-sensitive surface. Determiningmovement of the point of contact, which is represented by a series ofcontact data, may include determining speed (magnitude), velocity(magnitude and direction), and/or an acceleration (a change in magnitudeand/or direction) of the point of contact. These operations may beapplied to single contacts (e.g., one finger contacts) or to multiplesimultaneous contacts (e.g., “multitouch”/multiple finger contacts). Insome embodiments, contact/motion module 130 and display controller 156detect contact on a touchpad.

Contact/motion module 130 may detect a gesture input by a user.Different gestures on the touch-sensitive surface have different contactpatterns. Thus, a gesture may be detected by detecting a particularcontact pattern. For example, detecting a finger tap gesture includesdetecting a finger-down event followed by detecting a finger-up (liftoff) event at the same position (or substantially the same position) asthe finger-down event (e.g., at the position of an icon). As anotherexample, detecting a finger swipe gesture on the touch-sensitive surfaceincludes detecting a finger-down event followed by detecting one or morefinger-dragging events, and subsequently followed by detecting afinger-up (lift off) event.

Graphics module 132 includes various known software components forrendering and displaying graphics on touch screen 112 or other display,including components for changing the intensity of graphics that aredisplayed. As used herein, the term “graphics” includes any object thatcan be displayed to a user, including without limitation text, webpages, icons (such as user-interface objects including soft keys),digital images, videos, animations and the like.

In some embodiments, graphics module 132 stores data representinggraphics to be used. Each graphic may be assigned a corresponding code.Graphics module 132 receives, from applications etc., one or more codesspecifying graphics to be displayed along with, if necessary, coordinatedata and other graphic property data, and then generates screen imagedata to output to display controller 156.

Text input module 134, which may be a component of graphics module 132,provides soft keyboards for entering text in various applications (e.g.,contacts 137, e-mail 140, IM 141, browser 147, and any other applicationthat needs text input).

GPS module 135 determines the location of the device and provides thisinformation for use in various applications (e.g., to telephone 138 foruse in location-based dialing, to camera 143 as picture/video metadata,and to applications that provide location-based services such as weatherwidgets, local yellow page widgets, and map/navigation widgets).

Applications 136 may include the following modules (or sets ofinstructions), or a subset or superset thereof:

-   -   contacts module 137 (sometimes called an address book or contact        list);    -   telephone module 138;    -   video conferencing module 139;    -   e-mail client module 140;    -   instant messaging (IM) module 141;    -   workout support module 142;    -   camera module 143 for still and/or video images;    -   image management module 144;    -   browser module 147;    -   calendar module 148;    -   widget modules 149, which may include one or more of: weather        widget 149-1, stocks widget 149-2, calculator widget 149-3,        alarm clock widget 149-4, dictionary widget 149-5, and other        widgets obtained by the user, as well as user-created widgets        149-6;    -   widget creator module 150 for making user-created widgets 149-6;    -   search module 151;    -   video and music player module 152, which may be made up of a        video player    -   module and a music player module;    -   notes module 153;    -   map module 154; and/or    -   online video module 155.

Examples of other applications 136 that may be stored in memory 102include other word processing applications, other image editingapplications, drawing applications, presentation applications,JAVA-enabled applications, encryption, digital rights management, voicerecognition, and voice replication.

In conjunction with touch screen 112, display controller 156, contactmodule 130, graphics module 132, and text input module 134, contactsmodule 137 may be used to manage an address book or contact list (e.g.,stored in application internal state 192 of contacts module 137 inmemory 102 or memory 370), including: adding name(s) to the addressbook; deleting name(s) from the address book; associating telephonenumber(s), e-mail address(es), physical address(es) or other informationwith a name; associating an image with a name; categorizing and sortingnames; providing telephone numbers or e-mail addresses to initiateand/or facilitate communications by telephone 138, video conference 139,e-mail 140, or IM 141; and so forth.

In conjunction with RF circuitry 108, audio circuitry 110, speaker 111,microphone 113, touch screen 112, display controller 156, contact module130, graphics module 132, and text input module 134, telephone module138 may be used to enter a sequence of characters corresponding to atelephone number, access one or more telephone numbers in address book137, modify a telephone number that has been entered, dial a respectivetelephone number, conduct a conversation and disconnect or hang up whenthe conversation is completed. As noted above, the wirelesscommunication may use any of a variety of communications standards,protocols and technologies.

In conjunction with RF circuitry 108, audio circuitry 110, speaker 111,microphone 113, touch screen 112, display controller 156, optical sensor164, optical sensor controller 158, contact module 130, graphics module132, text input module 134, contact list 137, and telephone module 138,videoconferencing module 139 includes executable instructions toinitiate, conduct, and terminate a video conference between a user andone or more other participants in accordance with user instructions.

In conjunction with RF circuitry 108, touch screen 112, displaycontroller 156, contact module 130, graphics module 132, and text inputmodule 134, e-mail client module 140 includes executable instructions tocreate, send, receive, and manage e-mail in response to userinstructions. In conjunction with image management module 144, e-mailclient module 140 makes it very easy to create and send e-mails withstill or video images taken with camera module 143.

In conjunction with RF circuitry 108, touch screen 112, displaycontroller 156, contact module 130, graphics module 132, and text inputmodule 134, the instant messaging module 141 includes executableinstructions to enter a sequence of characters corresponding to aninstant message, to modify previously entered characters, to transmit arespective instant message (for example, using a Short Message Service(SMS) or Multimedia Message Service (MMS) protocol for telephony-basedinstant messages or using XMPP, SIMPLE, or IMPS for Internet-basedinstant messages), to receive instant messages and to view receivedinstant messages. In some embodiments, transmitted and/or receivedinstant messages may include graphics, photos, audio files, video filesand/or other attachments as are supported in a MMS and/or an EnhancedMessaging Service (EMS). As used herein, “instant messaging” refers toboth telephony-based messages (e.g., messages sent using SMS or MMS) andInternet-based messages (e.g., messages sent using XMPP, SIMPLE, orIMPS).

In conjunction with RF circuitry 108, touch screen 112, displaycontroller 156, contact module 130, graphics module 132, text inputmodule 134, GPS module 135, map module 154, and music player module 146,workout support module 142 includes executable instructions to createworkouts (e.g., with time, distance, and/or calorie burning goals);communicate with workout sensors (sports devices); receive workoutsensor data; calibrate sensors used to monitor a workout; select andplay music for a workout; and display, store and transmit workout data.

In conjunction with touch screen 112, display controller 156, opticalsensor(s) 164, optical sensor controller 158, contact module 130,graphics module 132, and image management module 144, camera module 143includes executable instructions to capture still images or video(including a video stream) and store them into memory 102, modifycharacteristics of a still image or video, or delete a still image orvideo from memory 102.

In conjunction with touch screen 112, display controller 156, contactmodule 130, graphics module 132, text input module 134, and cameramodule 143, image management module 144 includes executable instructionsto arrange, modify (e.g., edit), or otherwise manipulate, label, delete,present (e.g., in a digital slide show or album), and store still and/orvideo images.

In conjunction with RF circuitry 108, touch screen 112, display systemcontroller 156, contact module 130, graphics module 132, and text inputmodule 134, browser module 147 includes executable instructions tobrowse the Internet in accordance with user instructions, includingsearching, linking to, receiving, and displaying web pages or portionsthereof, as well as attachments and other files linked to web pages.

In conjunction with RF circuitry 108, touch screen 112, display systemcontroller 156, contact module 130, graphics module 132, text inputmodule 134, e-mail client module 140, and browser module 147, calendarmodule 148 includes executable instructions to create, display, modify,and store calendars and data associated with calendars (e.g., calendarentries, to do lists, etc.) in accordance with user instructions.

In conjunction with RF circuitry 108, touch screen 112, display systemcontroller 156, contact module 130, graphics module 132, text inputmodule 134, and browser module 147, widget modules 149 aremini-applications that may be downloaded and used by a user (e.g.,weather widget 149-1, stocks widget 149-2, calculator widget 1493, alarmclock widget 149-4, and dictionary widget 149-5) or created by the user(e.g., user-created widget 149-6). In some embodiments, a widgetincludes an HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) file, a CSS (CascadingStyle Sheets) file, and a JavaScript file. In some embodiments, a widgetincludes an XML (Extensible Markup Language) file and a JavaScript file(e.g., Yahoo! Widgets).

In conjunction with RF circuitry 108, touch screen 112, display systemcontroller 156, contact module 130, graphics module 132, text inputmodule 134, and browser module 147, the widget creator module 150 may beused by a user to create widgets (e.g., turning a user-specified portionof a web page into a widget).

In conjunction with touch screen 112, display system controller 156,contact module 130, graphics module 132, and text input module 134,search module 151 includes executable instructions to search for text,music, sound, image, video, and/or other files in memory 102 that matchone or more search criteria (e.g., one or more user-specified searchterms) in accordance with user instructions.

In conjunction with touch screen 112, display system controller 156,contact module 130, graphics module 132, audio circuitry 110, speaker111, RF circuitry 108, and browser module 147, video and music playermodule 152 includes executable instructions that allow the user todownload and play back recorded music and other sound files stored inone or more file formats, such as MP3 or AAC files, and executableinstructions to display, present or otherwise play back videos (e.g., ontouch screen 112 or on an external, connected display via external port124). In some embodiments, device 100 may include the functionality ofan MP3 player, such as an iPod (trademark of Apple Inc.).

In conjunction with touch screen 112, display controller 156, contactmodule 130, graphics module 132, and text input module 134, notes module153 includes executable instructions to create and manage notes, to dolists, and the like in accordance with user instructions.

In conjunction with RF circuitry 108, touch screen 112, display systemcontroller 156, contact module 130, graphics module 132, text inputmodule 134, GPS module 135, and browser module 147, map module 154 maybe used to receive, display, modify, and store maps and data associatedwith maps (e.g., driving directions; data on stores and other points ofinterest at or near a particular location; and other location-baseddata) in accordance with user instructions.

In conjunction with touch screen 112, display system controller 156,contact module 130, graphics module 132, audio circuitry 110, speaker111, RF circuitry 108, text input module 134, e-mail client module 140,and browser module 147, online video module 155 includes instructionsthat allow the user to access, browse, receive (e.g., by streamingand/or download), play back (e.g., on the touch screen or on anexternal, connected display via external port 124), send an e-mail witha link to a particular online video, and otherwise manage online videosin one or more file formats, such as H.264. In some embodiments, instantmessaging module 141, rather than e-mail client module 140, is used tosend a link to a particular online video.

Each of the above identified modules and applications correspond to aset of executable instructions for performing one or more functionsdescribed above and the methods described in this application (e.g., thecomputer-implemented methods and other information processing methodsdescribed herein). These modules (i.e., sets of instructions) need notbe implemented as separate software programs, procedures or modules, andthus various subsets of these modules may be combined or otherwisere-arranged in various embodiments. In some embodiments, memory 102 maystore a subset of the modules and data structures identified above.Furthermore, memory 102 may store additional modules and data structuresnot described above.

In some embodiments, device 100 is a device where operation of apredefined set of functions on the device is performed exclusivelythrough a touch screen and/or a touchpad. By using a touch screen and/ora touchpad as the primary input control device for operation of device100, the number of physical input control devices (such as push buttons,dials, and the like) on device 100 may be reduced.

The predefined set of functions that may be performed exclusivelythrough a touch screen and/or a touchpad include navigation between userinterfaces. In some embodiments, the touchpad, when touched by the user,navigates device 100 to a main, home, or root menu from any userinterface that may be displayed on device 100. In such embodiments, thetouchpad may be referred to as a “menu button.” In some otherembodiments, the menu button may be a physical push button or otherphysical input control device instead of a touchpad.

FIG. 2 illustrates a portable multifunction device 100 having a touchscreen 112 in accordance with some embodiments. The touch screen maydisplay one or more graphics within user interface (UI) 200. In thisembodiment, as well as others described below, a user may select one ormore of the graphics by making a gesture on the graphics, for example,with one or more fingers 202 (not drawn to scale in the figure) or oneor more styluses 203 (not drawn to scale in the figure).

Device 100 may also include one or more physical buttons, such as “home”or menu button 204. As described previously, menu button 204 may be usedto navigate to any application 136 in a set of applications that may beexecuted on device 100. Alternatively, in some embodiments, the menubutton is implemented as a soft key in a GUI displayed on touch screen112.

In one embodiment, device 100 includes touch screen 112, menu button204, push button 206 for powering the device on/off and locking thedevice, volume adjustment button(s) 208, Subscriber Identity Module(SIM) card slot 210, head set jack 212, and docking/charging externalport 124. Push button 206 may be used to turn the power on/off on thedevice by depressing the button and holding the button in the depressedstate for a predefined time interval; to lock the device by depressingthe button and releasing the button before the predefined time intervalhas elapsed; and/or to unlock the device or initiate an unlock process.In an alternative embodiment, device 100 also may accept verbal inputfor activation or deactivation of some functions through microphone 113.

It should be noted that, although many of the following examples will begiven with reference to optical sensor/camera 164 (on the front of adevice), rear-facing camera or optical sensor that is pointed oppositefrom the display may be used instead of optical sensor/camera 164.

Camera Module of a Multifunction Device and Placement of Optical ImageStabilization (OIS) Coils

FIG. 3 illustrates a MEMS actuator for use with an image sensoraccording to some embodiments. FIG. 3 highlights the general structuresof the MEMS device labeled actuator package 300. It may be appreciatedthat, in some embodiments, as the actuator package 300 is controllingsix axes of motion, the structures are complex. There are four similaractuator structures 380 disposed around the four sides of thei magesensor 310. The actuator structures 380 on each of the four sides iscapable of moving in two degrees of freedom. Therefore there areactually eight degrees of freedom in the whole actuator package 380.However, some embodiments are structured such that two of these are notas useful the remaining six and can lead to internal stresses in thestructure if not controlled correctly, leading some embodiments tocontrol those two degrees of freedom as discussed below.

As is illustrated in FIG. 3, the actuator structures 380 on each side ofthe image sensor 310 have two comb drives. First, a comb drive forautofocus 330 delivers a degree of freedom of movement out of the planeof the MEMS structure of the actuator package 300. Second, a comb drivefor optical image stabilization 340 delivers a degree of freedom ofmovement in the plane of the MEMS structure (the OIS comb). Alsodepicted in FIG. 3 are the four pre-deflection bodies 320 that aredeflected out of the plane of the actuator package 300 and bonded inthis position to the underlying support structure and to neighboringparts of actuator package 300. These pre-deflection bodies 320 arelinked to the moving body by a leaf spring flexure (labeled in FIG. 4with label omitted here for clarity and described below). Theseresilient leaf spring flexures substantially limit the relative motionbetween the moving body and the fixed body. The act of deflecting thepre-deflection body 320 rotates the moving body out of the planeactuator package 300. This deflected state then becomes the equilibriumposition of the moving body.

In addition, the linkages 370 connecting one of the actuator structuresto the image sensor 310 are highlighted. These take the form of anL-shaped linkage, one arm of which is thick and hence stiff (stifflinkage 360), and the other arm of which is thin and hence flexible(flexible linkage 350). In some embodiments, using standard integratedcircuit (IC) processing techniques the electrical traces can bedeposited on the MEMS device and along its leaf-spring flexures to routethe electrical connections from the image sensor.

In some embodiments, the depicted arrangement solves a major technicalhurdle that has prevented various proposed actuator solutions forminiature cameras in which the image sensor moves.

As one of skill in the art will readily understand in light of havingread the present disclosure, embodiments are not limited to theillustrated embodiment, but include arrangements where the activeactuator is not part of the MEMS structure labeled as actuator package300. In some embodiments, the MEMS structure merely includes leaf-springflexures to allow the desirable movement of the image sensor, andprovides a means to route electrical connections off the image sensor,and the actuator is provided by some other means.

Nevertheless the embodiment illustrated herein does incorporate theactuator into the MEMS device. The actuator technology is theelectrostatic comb drive. This works by using an array of interlockingfingers, where one half of the array is on a first substantially rigidbody, and the other half is on a second substantially rigid body. Thetwo bodies are suspended relative to each other on a series of resilientflexible leaf-springs that guide the relative motion between the twobodies. The arrangement of leaf-springs is chosen such that it isrelatively compliant in desired directions of the comb, and relativelyvery stiff in undesired directions. For example, in some embodiments itis a necessary condition of successful operation that the leaf springsuspension prevents the interlocking comb fingers on the two bodies fromever touching each other. The comb operated by applying a voltage acrossthe fingers on the two bodies to set up an electrostatic attraction. Inother embodiments, this condition does not exist.

In some embodiments, electric field and capacitance between comb fingersare maximized by a smaller gap between the comb fingers and a greaterthe surface area that the fingers overlap. In some embodiments, the comboperates restricting the comb fingers from touching under the action ofthe electrostatic attraction, but allowing them to increase the amountof interlock, effectively increasing the surface area of array ofparallel plate capacitors that are formed by the fingers.

A relative force between the two bodies is generated by the comb arrayin the direction that increases the overlap between the fingers.Considering one finger on one of the bodies in the middle of the array,either side of this finger there are two overlapping fingers from theother body. As an electrical voltage is applied between the fingerarrays in the two bodies, the first finger is attracted by nominally thesame force to the fingers on either side. Hence nominally there is nonet force on the first finger in a direction that would cause thefingers to touch. However, the equilibrium in these touching directionsis unstable. Since the electrostatic attraction is inverselyproportional to the square of the gap between the fingers, a smallperturbation towards one fingers would see the forces no longer inequilibrium, with the net force in the direction to move the finger inthe same direction as the perturbation. For this reason, the resilientleaf-spring arrangement must be relatively very stiff in directions thatwould lead to the fingers touching.

As a guide, in some embodiments the resilient leaf-spring arrangement isroughly 70,000 times stiffer in directions that would lead to thefingers touching as compared to the direction of desired relativemotion. In some embodiments, minimizing the gap between fingers, andminimizing the width of each finger allows more fingers with a higherelectric field and hence a higher force for a given applied voltage. Insome embodiments, force generated from the comb drive is proportional tothe number of fingers, proportional to the square of the applied voltageand inversely proportional to the gap between fingers.

Some embodiments also how to integrate multiple comb drives designed togenerate forces in different directions to deliver a device capable ofmoving the image sensor in six degrees of freedom. Some embodiments aredescribed with the aid of the accompanying drawings. Some embodimentsexploit the interlocking fingers of the Comb drive, and note that thefingers on the fixed side of the comb are not co-planar with the fingerson the moving side of the comb, because the generally planar structureof the actuator package 300 is oriented in the camera with its planeorthogonal to the optical axis of the lens.

In some embodiments, for the autofocus function, the lens element, andtherefore the comb drive need to move out of the plane of the actuatorpackage 300. It should be understood by one of ordinary skill in the artafter having read the present description of embodiments that the combdrive is operated in a way that generates forces to increase the amountof interlock between the comb fingers without generating electrostaticforces that would tend to reduce the amount of interlock and force thefingers apart.

In some embodiments, it is thus advantageous for the equilibriumposition of the autofocus comb to be with the two halves of the comboffset from each other along the optical axis, and then during operationby the application of a voltage across the fingers on the two halves ofthe comb, such that forces will be generated to pull the two halves ofthe comb back into alignment.

In some embodiments, a deflected portion (pre-deflection bodies 320) isdeflected out of the plane of the actuator package 300 and bonded inthis position to the underlying support structure and to neighboringparts of the actuator package 300. This deflected portion is linked tothe moving body by a leaf spring flexure.

The moving body is suspended on the fixed body by means of two pairs ofresilient leaf spring flexures. These resilient leaf spring flexuressubstantially limit the relative motion between the moving body and thefixed body to rotations about an axis. The act of deflecting thedeflected portion rotates the moving body out of the plane of theactuator package 300. This deflected state then becomes the equilibriumposition of the moving body. During operation, the application of avoltage across the two halves of the comb drive will generate forcesthat tend to pull the moving body back into the plane of the actuatorpackage 300, rotating about the blue dashed axis.

These general principles of operation are similar in the presentinvention. FIGS. 4 to 12, which are discussed below. In the illustratedembodiments, it is assumed that the actuator package 300 and the imagesensor are fabricated together from a single monolithic piece of siliconusing various lithographic IC and MEMS processing techniques includingetching, plating, deposition and implantation.

However, one of skill in the art will realize in light of having readthe present disclosure that the included embodiments are not so limited.For manufacturing cost and yield issues, and constraints on thedifferent required processing techniques, it may be more appropriate tofabricate the MEMS actuator separately from the image sensor and thenuse some kind of wafer bonding technique to join them together.

FIG. 4 depicts a plan view of a MEMS actuator for use with an imagesensor according to some embodiments. Oriented such that, where thestiff and flexible arms of the L-shaped linkages can be more clearlyobserved. Note the outline of one of the pre-deflection bodies 410, ofwhich there are four, one in each corner. Image sensor 490 is mounted ona linkage composed of a flexible linkage 450, a stiff linkage 460, and aportion of linkage to decouple tilt 470. In addition, FIG. 4 highlightsthree additional leaf-spring flexure arrangements, each consisting offour flexures. These arrangements are repeated on each side of thedevice.

A set of four pre-deflection body leaf-spring flexures 440 mounts thepre-deflection body to the fixed body that is the frame 480 around thecomplete device. These four pre-deflection body leaf-spring flexures 440allow the pre-deflection body 410 to be deflected out of the plane ofthe actuator package 400, but also substantially prevent parasiticmotions in the other five degrees of freedom during this deflection.These four pre-deflection body leaf-spring flexures 440 prevent thepre-deflection body 410 from tilting about any axis and from moving inlinear directions in the plane of the actuator package 400.

A second set of four autofocus leaf-spring flexures 420 suspends theautofocus moving body between two of the pre-deflection bodies. Theseautofocus leaf-spring flexures 420 also substantially limit the motionof the autofocus moving body relative to the pre-deflection bodies toone degree of freedom: linear movements orthogonal to the plane of theactuator package 400. Other parasitic tilts and linear motions in theplane of the MEMS device are strongly resisted, providing in someembodiments the advantage that the autofocus moving body is completelysuspended on the pre-deflection bodies 410, such that, at equilibrium,when the autofocus moving body is out of plane of the actuator package400, the autofocus flexures are nominally undeflected.

In some embodiments, advantages to this approach relate to desire thatthe autofocus leaf-spring flexures 420 are at least 70,000 time stifferto movements in the plane of the actuator package 400 as compared tomovements out of plane. Other approaches might leave a deflected portionis linked to the moving body by a flexure that is adding to the springstiffness out of plane, but is not helping the spring stiffness in planeand hence hindering the achievement of the required stiffness ration.

In some embodiments, other advantages to this approach relate tothickness of the actuator package 400. In some embodiments, the desiredmovement out of plane is 200 um to allow focusing from infinity to 10 cmobject distance. For the current embodiment, the thickness of theSilicon in the actuator package 400 is 300 um. Therefore, to operate asdesired, the autofocus moving body is deflected 200 um out of plane, andthere will be a remaining 100 um of overlap between the two halves ofthe autofocus comb.

By way of contrast to the embodiment shown, if the pre-deflection bodiesmerely deflected the moving body of out plane, and there were separateflexures suspending the autofocus moving body on the fixed body, thenconsidering the case where the individual stiffness of the four flexuressuspending the moving body on the fixed boy were identical to thestiffnesses of the two extra flexures linked to the pre-deflection body,then the pre-deflection body might need to be deformed by 600 um out ofplane so that the moving body deflects by the required 200 um, adding400 um to the height of the device. Such an example is provided for thesake of understanding alternatives, and the flexure stiffness do notneed to be identical, but nevertheless the principle illustrating theadvantages over the example of the embodiment shown remains the same.

Hence the arrangement of illustrated embodiment, in which the autofocusmoving body is suspended entirely on the pre-deflection bodies 410provides advantages both in terms of the required stiffnesses andminimizing the height of the device. The third set of four flexures isthe optical image stabilization leaf spring flexures 430 suspending theoptical image stabilization (OIS) moving body onto the autofocus movingbody (which is also the optical image stabilization fixed body).

FIG. 5 illustrates a detail view of combs in a MEMS actuator for usewith an image sensor according to some embodiments, including azoomed-in plan view looking at part of the bottom of the actuatorpackage 500 as viewed in FIG. 4. In FIG. 5, optical image stabilizationleaf-spring flexures 520 are easier to observe, and optical imagestabilization leaf-spring flexures 520 suspend the optical imagestabilization moving body onto the autofocus moving body, which is alsothe optical image stabilization fixed body. There are four individualflexures in the set of optical image stabilization leaf-spring flexures520. FIG. 5 shows two optical image stabilization leaf-spring flexures520 in their entirety, the ends of the other two can be seem continuingoff the right hand side of the illustration. FIG. 5 further shows theautofocus comb 540 and autofocus leaf spring flexures 510.

One of skill in the art will appreciate in light of having read thepresent disclosure that, in some embodiments, these optical imagestabilization leaf-spring flexures 520 extend through the wholethickness of actuator package 500, and hence are very stiff andsubstantially prevent relative motions out of the plane of actuatorpackage 500. In addition, based on the orientation of FIG. 5, opticalimage stabilization leaf-spring flexures 520 also substantially preventrelative horizontal motions that would cause the fingers of the twohalves of the comb drive to touch, while still being much more compliantto vertical movements.

In FIG. 5, the optical image stabilization leaf-spring flexures 520 areshown straight, which is the undeflected stated. As can be observed, thefingers of the two halves of the optical image stabilization comb 530have a relatively small overlap in this relaxed state. The applicationof a voltage across the two halves of the optical image stabilizationcomb 530 will tend to move the optical image stabilization comb 530downwards (in the orientation of FIG. 5) to increase the interlocking ofthe fingers. As described above, the forces generated by the opticalimage stabilization comb 530 can only act in one direction. For thisreason, the relaxed state of the optical image stabilization comb 530 isnot with the comb in the center of travel, but is with the comb as oneend of travel.

Therefore when operating the device, some embodiments power up each ofthe optical image stabilization combs 530 with a DC bias voltage so thatthey are operating around the center of travel. It is for this reason(when combined with the L-shaped linkages that suspend the image sensoron the optical image stabilization comb 530 actuator package 500 thatthe image sensor is rotated by a little over 2 degrees when the opticalimage stabilization combs 530 are in their relaxed state. This imagesensor rotation can be observed in FIG. 4.

Returning briefly to FIG. 4, the purpose of the L-shaped linkages, withone arm stiff (stiff linkage 460), and one flexible (flexible linkage450), is to decouple the motions of the different optical imagestabilization actuators. One of skill in the art will appreciate inlight of having read the present disclosure that, when viewed in theorientation of FIG. 4, the optical image stabilization actuator at thetop and the optical image stabilization actuator at the bottom controlthe movement of the actuator up and down. The optical imagestabilization actuators to the left and right control the movement ofimage sensor 490 to the left and right allowing decoupling of thesemotions, so that movements to the left and right substantially producereduced disturbance the movements of the image sensor 490 and the up anddown optical image stabilization actuators (and vice versa).

As may be appreciated, the L-shaped linkages with one stiff linkage 460and one flexible linkage 450 achieve this decoupling in someembodiments. The stiff linkage 460 additionally provides, in someembodiments, a space-saving packaging feature so that each actuatorstructure can be centered on each side of the image sensor 490. Theflexible linkage 450 is stiff along its length in the direction of theforces applied by the optical image stabilization actuator that is beinglinked, but is compliant in the ‘in-plane’ orthogonal direction that isbeing controlled by the orthogonal pair of optical image stabilizationactuators.

Going one step further, if the optical image stabilization actuators areacting around mid-travel (which is actually illustrated in FIG. 8,discussed below), and hence the image sensor 490 is nominally squared upto the fixed frame surrounding the actuator package, then a differentialmode signal between the two optical image stabilization actuators onopposite sides of the image sensor 490 will cause a linear movement,whereas a common mode signal will tend to rotate the image sensor aboutthe optical axis.

More specifically Consider FIG. 8, FIG. 9 and FIG. 10. FIG. 8 depicts aMEMS actuator for use with an image sensor according to some embodimentswith combs powered to mid-position and an image sensor squared and inmid-position. FIGS. 8 and 9 show plan views of the actuator package 800and 900 with the optical image stabilization actuators biased withvoltages across the combs so that they are in the center of travel. FIG.9 shows a zoomed in view of one of the optical image stabilizationactuators. The deflection of the optical image stabilization flexuresmay be observed. FIG. 9 illustrates a comb of a MEMS actuator for usewith an image sensor according to some embodiments powered tomid-position. FIG. 10 depicts a MEMS actuator for use with an imagesensor according to some embodiments with OIS movement. In FIG. 8, allOIS actuators are at their bias voltage, the image sensor 890 is square,and centered.

In moving to FIG. 10 and understanding the function of actuator package1000, the voltage applied across the left hand optical imagestabilization comb 1030 is decreased, and the voltage applied to theright hand comb 1020 is increased by the same amount (i.e. adifferential signal), the image sensor 1090 experiences a force fromboth actuators to move to the right. In more detail, the force from theoptical image stabilization actuator on the left 1030 is coming from thespring force of the flexures 1010 trying to straighten, since the combforce has been reduced, whilst the force from the optical imagestabilization actuator on the right is coming from the electrostaticforces pulling the halves of the comb to interlock more, which isdeflecting the optical image stabilization flexures further.

However, if there is a common mode signal to the optical imagestabilization actuators, such as if the voltage to both is reduced fromthe bias voltage, this will tend to rotate the image sensor towards thestate shown in FIG. 4. Conversely, if the voltage to the optical imagestabilization actuators is increased to both, then the image sensor willtilt the other way.

As an aside, note that a common mode voltage offset (from the biasvoltage) applied to the up and down OIS actuators, which acts to rotatethe image sensor in one direction, could fight against a common modevoltage of opposite sign applied to the left and right optical imagestabilization actuators, which acts to rotate the image sensor in theother direction. This is an example of one of the two extra degrees offreedom of the system that could lead to internal stresses in theactuator if not correctly controlled.

The functions of various features of one embodiment have now beendescribed in general terms. The remaining description and illustrationsdescribe more detailed feature design and secondary features.

FIG. 6 depicts a MEMS actuator for use with an image sensor according tosome embodiments. FIG. 6 shows that the actuator package 600 and theimage sensor 690 are mounted onto a base support structure 680 with twolateral end stops 620 that limit the travel of image sensor 690 in theplane of the actuator package 600. Base support structure 680 alsoprovides a surface to which pre-deflection bodies are bonded, and formsthe lower end-stop to motions out-of-plane. Motion in plane is arrestedby lateral end stops on base 620 and lateral end stops on image sensor610. In some embodiments, these end stops arrest sudden lateral motion.

FIG. 7 illustrates deflection of a MEMS actuator for use with an imagesensor according to some embodiments. FIG. gives two detailedperspective views showing one corner of the actuator package 730 and 740before 720 and after 710 the pre-deflection bodies are deflecteddownwards to be bonded to the base and the surrounding fixed body of theactuator package 730 and 740. Notice that the autofocus flexures remainundeflected 700 before and after the deflection of the pre-deflectionbodies (although the flexures suspending the pre-deflection bodies tothe fixed body do deflect). Also notice that the act of deflecting thepre-deflection bodies shifts the autofocus moving body downwardsoffsetting the two halves of the autofocus comb fingers, and indeedshifting the optical image stabilization actuators and image sensor downas well.

FIG. 11 illustrates a MEMS actuator for use with an image sensoraccording to some embodiments with autofocus movement to lift an imagesensor. FIG. 11 shows a perspective view, in which the autofocusactuators are powered with voltages across the combs, and hence theimage sensor is lifted towards macro focus. If the four autofocusactuators are driven with common-mode voltages, this alters the positionof the image sensor orthogonally to the plane of the actuator package,which is along the optical axis, adjusting focus. However, differentialsignals are applied to the different autofocus actuators, this allowsthe position of each side of the image sensor along the optical axis tobe controlled separately, which will tilt the image sensor. In order forthis to operate correctly, some embodiment decouple the linkagessuspending the image sensor on the optical image stabilization actuatorsto allow these tilting degrees of freedom. These tilt decoupling linkagefeatures are annotated in FIG. 4, and shown in more detail in FIG. 12(described below). The amount of tilt is very small (0.2 to 0.3degrees), and if these linkages are very flexible they can have adetrimental effect on the transmission of the autofocus displacements.Hence, in some embodiments these decoupling features are very small.Note that the autofocus leaf spring flexures are deflected 1120 andoverlap of comb fingers is increased.

In some embodiments, the actuator described herein has eight separatelycontrollable comb drives, each driven with a voltage. In the embodimentdescribed herein, each comb drive is driven with an independentlycontrollable voltage drive, with applied voltages adjustable up to 40V.However, since each comb drive is essentially a pure capacitor, therequired drive current is very small, and the drive power can also bevery small; dominated by the quiescent power in the driver itself, thatcan be optimized for driving such capacitive loads.

Since the drive voltage is 40V, it is this factor more than any otherthat is likely to lead to the MEMS device being fabricated separatelyfrom the image sensor, using a different integrated circuit process.

However, in some embodiments, the actuator package 1100 includes tracesalong its various leaf spring flexures to route the many and variouselectrical signals between the image sensor and the fixed portion of theactuator package 1100. This fixed portion of the actuator package 1100is mounted on a substrate structure to mechanically and electricallyconnect the actuator package 1100 and image sensor to the wider system.Options include flip-chip bonding the actuator package 1100 to a ceramicsubstrate.

FIG. 12 depicts a MEMS actuator leaf-spring flexure for use with animage sensor according to some embodiments. Note leaf-spring flexure todecouple tilt 1220 on actuator package 1200.

Example Computer System

FIG. 13 illustrates computer system 1300 that is configured to executeany or all of the embodiments described above. In different embodiments,computer system 1300 may be any of various types of devices, including,but not limited to, a personal computer system, desktop computer,laptop, notebook, tablet, slate, or netbook computer, mainframe computersystem, handheld computer, workstation, network computer, a camera, aset top box, a mobile device, a consumer device, video game console,handheld video game device, application server, storage device, atelevision, a video recording device, a peripheral device such as aswitch, modem, router, or in general any type of computing or electronicdevice.

Various embodiments of a camera motion control system as describedherein, may be executed in one or more computer systems 1300, which mayinteract with various other devices. Note that any component, action, orfunctionality described above with respect to FIGS. 1-20 may beimplemented on one or more computers configured as computer system 1300of FIG. 13, according to various embodiments. In the illustratedembodiment, computer system 1300 includes one or more processors 1310coupled to a system memory 1320 via an input/output (I/O) interface1330. Computer system 1300 further includes a network interface 1340coupled to I/O interface 1330, and one or more input/output devices1350, such as cursor control device 1360, keyboard 1370, and display(s)1380. In some cases, it is contemplated that embodiments may beimplemented using a single instance of computer system 1300, while inother embodiments multiple such systems, or multiple nodes making upcomputer system 1300, may be configured to host different portions orinstances of embodiments. For example, in one embodiment some elementsmay be implemented via one or more nodes of computer system 1300 thatare distinct from those nodes implementing other elements.

In various embodiments, computer system 1300 may be a uniprocessorsystem including one processor 1310, or a multiprocessor systemincluding several processors 1310 (e.g., two, four, eight, or anothersuitable number). Processors 1310 may be any suitable processor capableof executing instructions. For example, in various embodimentsprocessors 1310 may be general-purpose or embedded processorsimplementing any of a variety of instruction set architectures (ISAs),such as the x813, PowerPC, SPARC, or MIPS ISAs, or any other suitableISA. In multiprocessor systems, each of processors 1310 may commonly,but not necessarily, implement the same ISA.

System memory 1320 may be configured to store camera control programinstructions 1322 and/or camera control data accessible by processor1310. In various embodiments, system memory 1320 may be implementedusing any suitable memory technology, such as static random accessmemory (SRAM), synchronous dynamic RAM (SDRAM), nonvolatile/Flash-typememory, or any other type of memory. In the illustrated embodiment,program instructions 1322 may be configured to implement a lens controlapplication 1324 incorporating any of the functionality described above.Additionally, existing camera control data 1332 of memory 1320 mayinclude any of the information or data structures described above. Insome embodiments, program instructions and/or data may be received, sentor stored upon different types of computer-accessible media or onsimilar media separate from system memory 1320 or computer system 1300.While computer system 1300 is described as implementing thefunctionality of functional blocks of previous Figures, any of thefunctionality described herein may be implemented via such a computersystem.

In one embodiment, I/O interface 1330 may be configured to coordinateI/O traffic between processor 1310, system memory 1320, and anyperipheral devices in the device, including network interface 1340 orother peripheral interfaces, such as input/output devices 1350. In someembodiments, I/O interface 1330 may perform any necessary protocol,timing or other data transformations to convert data signals from onecomponent (e.g., system memory 1320) into a format suitable for use byanother component (e.g., processor 1310). In some embodiments, I/Ointerface 1330 may include support for devices attached through varioustypes of peripheral buses, such as a variant of the Peripheral ComponentInterconnect (PCI) bus standard or the Universal Serial Bus (USB)standard, for example. In some embodiments, the function of I/Ointerface 1330 may be split into two or more separate components, suchas a north bridge and a south bridge, for example. Also, in someembodiments some or all of the functionality of I/O interface 1330, suchas an interface to system memory 1320, may be incorporated directly intoprocessor 1310.

Network interface 1340 may be configured to allow data to be exchangedbetween computer system 1300 and other devices attached to a network1385 (e.g., carrier or agent devices) or between nodes of computersystem 1300. Network 1385 may in various embodiments include one or morenetworks including but not limited to Local Area Networks (LANs) (e.g.,an Ethernet or corporate network), Wide Area Networks (WANs) (e.g., theInternet), wireless data networks, some other electronic data network,or some combination thereof. In various embodiments, network interface1340 may support communication via wired or wireless general datanetworks, such as any suitable type of Ethernet network, for example;via telecommunications/telephony networks such as analog voice networksor digital fiber communications networks; via storage area networks suchas Fibre Channel SANs, or via any other suitable type of network and/orprotocol.

Input/output devices 1350 may, in some embodiments, include one or moredisplay terminals, keyboards, keypads, touchpads, scanning devices,voice or optical recognition devices, or any other devices suitable forentering or accessing data by one or more computer systems 1300.Multiple input/output devices 1350 may be present in computer system1300 or may be distributed on various nodes of computer system 1300. Insome embodiments, similar input/output devices may be separate fromcomputer system 1300 and may interact with one or more nodes of computersystem 1300 through a wired or wireless connection, such as over networkinterface 1340.

As shown in FIG. 13, memory 1320 may include program instructions 1322,which may be processor-executable to implement any element or actiondescribed above. In one embodiment, the program instructions mayimplement the methods described above. In other embodiments, differentelements and data may be included. Note that data may include any dataor information described above.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that computer system 1300 ismerely illustrative and is not intended to limit the scope ofembodiments. In particular, the computer system and devices may includeany combination of hardware or software that can perform the indicatedfunctions, including computers, network devices, Internet appliances,PDAs, wireless phones, pagers, etc. Computer system 1300 may also beconnected to other devices that are not illustrated, or instead mayoperate as a stand-alone system. In addition, the functionality providedby the illustrated components may in some embodiments be combined infewer components or distributed in additional components. Similarly, insome embodiments, the functionality of some of the illustratedcomponents may not be provided and/or other additional functionality maybe available.

Those skilled in the art will also appreciate that, while various itemsare illustrated as being stored in memory or on storage while beingused, these items or portions of them may be transferred between memoryand other storage devices for purposes of memory management and dataintegrity. Alternatively, in other embodiments some or all of thesoftware components may execute in memory on another device andcommunicate with the illustrated computer system via inter-computercommunication. Some or all of the system components or data structuresmay also be stored (e.g., as instructions or structured data) on acomputer-accessible medium or a portable article to be read by anappropriate drive, various examples of which are described above. Insome embodiments, instructions stored on a computer-accessible mediumseparate from computer system 1300 may be transmitted to computer system1300 via transmission media or signals such as electrical,electromagnetic, or digital signals, conveyed via a communication mediumsuch as a network and/or a wireless link. Various embodiments mayfurther include receiving, sending or storing instructions and/or dataimplemented in accordance with the foregoing description upon acomputer-accessible medium. Generally speaking, a computer-accessiblemedium may include a non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium ormemory medium such as magnetic or optical media, e.g., disk orDVD/CD-ROM, volatile or non-volatile media such as RAM (e.g. SDRAM, DDR,RDRAM, SRAM, etc.), ROM, etc. In some embodiments, a computer-accessiblemedium may include transmission media or signals such as electrical,electromagnetic, or digital signals, conveyed via a communication mediumsuch as network and/or a wireless link.

The methods described herein may be implemented in software, hardware,or a combination thereof, in different embodiments. In addition, theorder of the blocks of the methods may be changed, and various elementsmay be added, reordered, combined, omitted, modified, etc. Variousmodifications and changes may be made as would be obvious to a personskilled in the art having the benefit of this disclosure. The variousembodiments described herein are meant to be illustrative and notlimiting. Many variations, modifications, additions, and improvementsare possible. Accordingly, plural instances may be provided forcomponents described herein as a single instance. Boundaries betweenvarious components, operations and data stores are somewhat arbitrary,and particular operations are illustrated in the context of specificillustrative configurations. Other allocations of functionality areenvisioned and may fall within the scope of claims that follow. Finally,structures and functionality presented as discrete components in theexemplary configurations may be implemented as a combined structure orcomponent. These and other variations, modifications, additions, andimprovements may fall within the scope of embodiments as defined in theclaims that follow.

What is claimed is:
 1. An actuator assembly for mounting a digital imagesensor, comprising: a base frame member; an image sensor; and aplurality of comb drive actuators affixed to the base frame member by aplurality of respective electrically conductive leaf spring flexures,wherein the respective electrically conductive leaf spring flexuresprovide an electrical current conductive path between the image sensorand conductors mounted on the base frame member, and the plurality ofcomb drive actuators is arranged to control the motion of the imagesensor in multiple degrees of freedom relative to the fixed structure.2. The actuator assembly for mounting a digital image sensor of claim 1,wherein each of the plurality of comb drive actuators comprises at leasttwo independent comb drive array portions, wherein at least one of thecomb drive array portions generates force tending to move the imagesensor out of a plane of the base frame member, and another of the combdrive array portions generates force tending to move the image sensor inone linear direction within the plane of the base frame member.
 3. Theactuator assembly for mounting a digital image sensor of claim 2,wherein the plurality of comb drive actuators comprises four comb driveactuator structures, and wherein each of the four functionally similarcomb drive actuator structures comprises a substantially rigid portionwith interdigitated comb drive fingers from the respective at least oneof the comb drive arrays and the respective another of the comb drivearrays.
 4. The actuator assembly for mounting a digital image sensor ofclaim 2, wherein for each of the plurality of comb drive actuators, amoving portion of the comb drive actuator that delivers in-plane forceis suspended on a moving portion of the comb drive actuator thatdelivers out-of plane forces.
 5. The actuator assembly for mounting adigital image sensor of claim 2, further comprising: a plurality ofsubstantially rigid portions of the actuator assembly suspended usingresilient flexures to the base frame member, each of which suspends arespective another of the comb drive array portions to deliverout-of-plane forces, wherein the plurality of substantially rigidportions are deflected out of the plane of the plane of the base framemember during the fabrication process, and the plurality ofsubstantially rigid portions are bonded in deflected positions so as todeflect the respective another of the comb drive array portions todeliver the out-of-plane forces.
 6. The actuator assembly for mounting adigital image sensor of claim 1, wherein the plurality of comb driveactuators affixed to the base frame member further comprises fourfunctionally similar comb drive actuator structures.
 7. The actuatorassembly for mounting a digital image sensor of claim 1, wherein each ofthe comb drive actuators is linked to the image sensor by a linkagearrangement that comprises: a substantially rigid linking bar, and afurther beam angled to the rigid bar that is compliant to one lineardirection of in-plane movement and stiff to the orthogonal direction ofin-plane movement, wherein the orthogonal direction of in-plane movementis a same direction as the forces provided by the in-plane actuator towhich it is attached.
 8. A digital camera, comprising: a base framemember; an image sensor; and a plurality of comb drive actuators affixedto the base frame member by a plurality of respective electricallyconductive leaf spring flexures, wherein each of the plurality of combdrive actuators comprises at least two independent comb drive arrayportions, wherein at least one of the comb drive array portionsgenerates force tending to move the image sensor out of a plane of thebase frame member, and another of the comb drive array portionsgenerates force tending to move the image sensor in one linear directionwithin the plane of the base frame member, and wherein the respectiveelectrically conductive leaf spring flexures provide an electricalcurrent conductive path between the image sensor and conductors mountedon the base frame member.
 9. The digital camera of claim 8, wherein theplurality of comb drive actuators is arranged to control the motion ofthe image sensor in multiple degrees of freedom relative to the fixedstructure.
 10. The digital camera of claim 9, wherein the plurality ofcomb drive actuators comprises four comb drive actuator structures, andwherein each of the four functionally similar comb drive actuatorstructures comprises a substantially rigid portion with interdigitatedcomb drive fingers from the respective at least one of the comb drivearrays and the respective another of the comb drive arrays.
 11. Thedigital camera of claim 9, wherein for each of the plurality of combdrive actuators, a moving portion of the comb drive actuator thatdelivers in-plane force is suspended on a moving portion of the combdrive actuator that delivers out-of plane forces.
 12. The digital cameraof claim 9 further comprising: a plurality of substantially rigidportions of the actuator assembly suspended using resilient flexures tothe base frame member, each of which suspends a respective another ofthe comb drive array portions to deliver out-of-plane forces, whereinthe plurality of substantially rigid portions are deflected out of theplane of the plane of the base frame member during the fabricationprocess, and the plurality of substantially rigid portions are bonded indeflected positions so as to deflect the respective another of the combdrive array portions to deliver the out-of-plane forces.
 13. The digitalcamera of claim 8, wherein the plurality of comb drive actuators affixedto the base frame member further comprises four functionally similarcomb drive actuator structures.
 14. The digital camera of claim 8,wherein each of the comb drive actuators is linked to the image sensorby a linkage arrangement that comprises: a substantially rigid linkingbar, and a further beam angled to the rigid bar that is compliant to onelinear direction of in-plane movement and stiff to the orthogonaldirection of in-plane movement, wherein the orthogonal direction ofin-plane movement is a same direction as the forces provided by thein-plane actuator to which it is attached.
 15. An actuator package,comprising: a base frame member; an image sensor; and a plurality ofcomb drive actuators affixed to the base frame member by a plurality ofrespective electrically conductive leaf spring flexures, wherein theplurality of comb drive actuators comprises four comb drive actuatorstructures, each of the four comb drive actuator structures comprises asubstantially rigid portion with interdigitated comb drive fingers fromthe respective at least one of the comb drive arrays and the respectiveanother of the comb drive arrays, wherein for each of the plurality ofcomb drive actuator structures, a moving portion of the comb driveactuator that delivers in-plane force is suspended on a moving portionof the comb drive actuator that delivers out-of plane forces, andwherein the respective electrically conductive leaf spring flexuresprovide an electrical current conductive path between the image sensorand conductors mounted on the base frame member.
 16. The actuatorpackage of claim 15, wherein each of the plurality of comb driveactuators comprises at least two independent comb drive array portions,wherein at least one of the comb drive array portions generates forcetending to move the image sensor out of a plane of the base framemember, and another of the comb drive array portions generates forcetending to move the image sensor in one linear direction within theplane of the base frame member.
 17. The actuator package of claim 16,further comprising: a plurality of substantially rigid portions of theactuator assembly suspended using resilient flexures to the base framemember, each of which suspends a respective another of the comb drivearray portions to deliver out-of-plane forces, wherein the plurality ofsubstantially rigid portions are deflected out of the plane of the planeof the base frame member during the fabrication process.
 18. Theactuator package of claim 15, wherein each of the comb drive actuatorsis linked to the image sensor by a linkage arrangement that comprises: asubstantially rigid linking bar, and a further beam angled to the rigidbar that is compliant to one linear direction of in-plane movement andstiff to the orthogonal direction of in-plane movement, wherein theorthogonal direction of in-plane movement is a same direction as theforces provided by the in-plane actuator to which it is attached. 19.The actuator package of claim 15, wherein the plurality of substantiallyrigid portions are bonded in deflected positions so as to deflect therespective another of the comb drive array portions to deliver theout-of-plane forces.